Justin Timberlake On Michael Jackson: ‘99.79 Percent Of His Songs Are Perfect’

When Michael Jackson joined Justin Timberlake and ‘NSYNC onstage at the 2001 Video Music Awards, JT didn’t get a chance to sing with one of his idols. The King of Pop just busted out a number of his signature dance moves as the crowd at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House went nuts. A couple months later, though, Timberlake got the opportunity of a lifetime when he performed — and sung — with MJ at his 30th anniversary concert at Madison Square Garden.

Years later, and months after Jackson’s passing, Timberlake maintains that Jackson’s vocal dexterity might be the biggest legacy he’s left behind.

“If there’s anything that I think my generation of artists — including myself, obviously — emulate about Michael, it’s that he felt what he was doing so much that his vocal presentation of the song, you can tell when he was cutting the record he was probably dancing in the booth”, Timberlake told MTV News on the red carpet at his Las Vegas charity concert. “At least that’s what it seems like to me. That type of energy, that kinetic energy into the music, I think that’s what we all try to emulate. From hip-hop to pop to rock and roll, I think that there’s inflection that he put into music as a vocalist that no one had ever really heard that way”.

Though Timberlake professed to be a huge fan of Jackson’s tunes as a kid, he also admitted that he didn’t have a true understanding of Jackson’s legacy until he left home to pursue a career as an artist. “Growing up in Tennessee, I never really understood the phenomenon that was Michael Jackson or the pandemonium that followed him around”, JT said. “I just heard certain songs that I loved as a kid and I gravitated toward those songs. It just so happens that 99.79 percent of his songs are perfect. They’re perfect songs. The other whatever percentage are works of art as well”.

One work of art he’s interested in checking out is “Michael Jackson’s This Is It”, the upcoming documentary about the singer’s final days. “It looks like a more intimate view than anything we’ve seen”, he said. “I’m sure it will be good”.

While he’s looking forward to catching MJ on the big screen, Timberlake said he doesn’t try to invoke his idol in the recording booth — though he’s pleasantly surprised when he finds a point of similarity in their music. “You don’t imitate it, but you know when you have something that he had”, he explained. “You could tell he was just excited about the music he was doing. That’s the feeling that you get sometimes and that’s when you feel like the king — but other than that, not so much!”

Justin Timberlake Grows Out His Curls For ‘The Social Network’

JT explains that he’s growing his hair for the upcoming Facebook movie.

Did Justin Timberlake forget to get a haircut before his benefit concert in Las Vegas on Saturday night? How else to explain the presence of JT’s curls in place of his usual close-cropped look?

“My hair is obviously growing out for a reason”, Timberlake hinted to MTV News at the red carpet for the event.

That reason is “The Social Network”, David Fincher’s take on the creative forces — and salacious backstabbing — behind the founding of Facebook. Filming is set to begin soon in Boston, and Timberlake has been preparing for his role by skipping a trip to the barber shop and growing out his ‘do.

He will be taking on the role of Sean Parker, a Napster co-founder who helped Mark Zuckerberg grow Facebook after its launch at Harvard. In the book on which the film is based, “The Accidental Billionaires”, Parker is presented as an ego-swollen party boy, part Silicon Valley wheeler-and-dealer, part see-and-be-seen nightlife maven. After assuming the mantle of Facebook president, Parker was forced out after a falling out with founder Mark Zuckerberg in what was just one of the many personal squabbles and breakups shadowing the company in its early years.

“Zombieland” star Jesse Eisenberg will play Zuckerberg. “The West Wing” vet Aaron Sorkin adapted Ben Mezrich’s “Accidental Billionaires” for the screen, with Kevin Spacey stepping into an executive producer role. The last time we spoke with Spacey, he didn’t envision himself appearing onscreen, though he did star in another film based on a Mezrich book, last year’s “21”.

“To be honest, David Fincher is so ridiculously genius that we’re all just following his lead”, Timberlake said. “I think we want to tell the story, and I want to tell it through Sorkin’s words and Fincher’s eyes. I think Aaron did a lot of research on all of it. I don’t want to speak for another actor, but I think the consensus for all of us is that we just want to make a great film”.

Justin Timberlake ‘Not The Type Who Rushes’ A New Album

‘For me it is about the process — the discovery of whatever it is it’s going to be’, singer says of finding his new sound.

Justin Timberlake brought sexy back in 2006 with his second solo album, FutureSex/LoveSounds, and since then he’s kept himself busy working in the studio with a myriad of other pop stars ranging from Madonna to Rihanna. But fans eagerly anticipate what Timberlake has up his sleeve for his next musical venture — but it could be long wait.

These days, Justy T is a little too busy concocting hits for other artists to pen any of his own. “We just went into the studio with Jamie Foxx and did a couple things for him and it was kind of nice to write R&B again”, he told MTV News. “It was kind of refreshing, and I feel like we’re putting a new spin on it — but as far as things for myself, I haven’t really made a commitment in my mind about what I want it to sound like”.

Timberlake is waiting for some inspiration to hit him before he decides on his next solo direction. “So, until it kind of slaps me in the face, I’m going to tinker around with everything”, he said. “I’m obviously not the type of artist who rushes anything. I’ve done, like, two records in the last eight years”.

Timberlake enjoys the process of making music too much to rush it. “You know, I just believe that the process is what it’s really all about. And if you make the process [like] what I was able to have the luck of tapping into for the first two [albums], the end comes out the way it comes out”, he explained. “For me it is about the process — the discovery of whatever it is it’s going to be. That’s the most fun part”.

Justin Timberlake Says Rihanna’s New Songs Are ‘Awesome’

‘She’s grown up a little bit and she has things that she can say’, Timberlake says of the content of Rihanna’s new album.

Rihanna has been in the studio lately crafting her forthcoming album, working with everyone from Tricky Stewart, All-American Reject Tyson Ritter, Norwegian production team Stargate and Justin Timberlake. With fans eager for the new release, we got a few more details on what to expect from the tunes.

Timberlake spoke to MTV News Saturday at the second annual Justin Timberlake & Friends Concert in Las Vegas, and told us his new songs with Rihanna are not just a rehash of what fans heard on Good Girl Gone Bad, but instead a whole new sound for the singer.

“I think she’s got, like, a million people writing songs for her, but the ones that we worked on she’s grown up a little bit and she has things that she can say”, he explained. “So that’s what we tried to do — craft things that are that of a young woman”.

Timberlake added that because of the huge success of her last album, Rihanna wants to make sure she isn’t pigeonholed into one sound or vibe. “She broke onto the scene so hard with the last record — to have that many songs on the charts is impressive”, he said. “I think that the smartest thing she’s doing is not trying to emulate what she did but move forward … I’ve heard some of the stuff on the record and it’s awesome”.

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